In this exploratory study we take a strategic management approach to global sourcing of
advanced services. We discuss in which ways conventional sourcing differs from strategic
sourcing and what impels firms to aim for the latter (or, prevent them from doing so).
Potentially, strategic global sourcing of services has high returns, but is also associated with
high risks and needs for organizational changes. Strategic global sourcing may therefore be
outside firms’ “comfort zone” – a composite of organizational knowledge transferability,
structural inertia, managers’ risk preferences, and – most interesting in a strategic
management perspective ‐ their ability to mitigate risks of strategic global sourcing. One
important risk reducing measure is internalization of (out)sourced service activities. Many firms
instigate global sourcing via conventional offshore outsourcing. However, as the human asset
specificity of the outsourcing operation increases, firms are pulled out of their comfort zones
and a desire for internalization arises. An illustrative company case gives suggestions as to
how, in practice, internalization may be accomplished without losing valuable human assets
held by the local service providers.

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The emerging Knowledge Governance Approach asserts the need to build microfoundations
grounded in individual action. Toward this goal, using the Theory of Planned
Behavior, we aim to explain individual knowledge sharing behavior as being determined
by the intention to share knowledge and its antecedents: attitude toward knowledge
sharing, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. In addition, we consider
managerial interventions (governance mechanisms) that managers can employ to
influence the identified antecedents and thereby govern individual knowledge sharing
behavior. We test the model arrived at on a dataset collected among individuals engaged
in knowledge sharing in two competing firms. Results of the LISREL analysis show that
the use of rewards affects attitudes toward knowledge sharing negatively, while the use of
reciprocal schemes and communication mechanisms have a positive effect on subjective
norms and perceived behavioral control, respectively.

SHRM increasingly emphasizes HRM practices as means to build strategic knowledge resources
such as superior capabilities. While the knowledge-based view increasingly pays attention to
micro-foundations, the SHRM field neglects these and emphasizes collective constructs such as
“human capital pools,” “HRM architectures”, etc. As a result, causal links between HRM
practices, knowledge and organizational performance are black-boxed. We propose a program
for research and identify some of the key issues that future research must deal with.

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Credible delegation of discretion obtains when it is a rational strategy for managers not to overrule employee decisions that are based on delegated decision rights or renege on the level of delegated discretion (and this is common knowledge). Making delegation of discretion credible becomes a crucial issue when organizations want to sustain the advantages that may flow from delegation: Such advantages are dependent on motivated employees, and managerial overruling or reneging is harmful to motivation. However, little work has been done on how organizations can make delegation credible. We argue that key elements of organizations (i.e., organizational structure, coordination mechanisms, reward structures, and interdependencies between activities) and how these fit influence the credibility of delegation. Fit configurations of organizational elements reduce the probability of managerial intervention that may harm employee motivation. This introduces a neglected incentive dimension to the organizational design literature. Moreover, it is argued that harmful intervention may be reduced by increasing managers’ costs of intervening. Refutable propositions are derived.

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We briefly survey Hayek’s work and argue for its increasing relevance for organizational scholars. Hayek’s work inspired aspects of the transaction cost approach to the firm as well as knowledge management and knowledge-based view of the firm. But Hayek is usually seen within organizational scholarship as a narrow, technical economist. We hope to change that perception here by pointing to his work on rules, evolution, entrepreneurship and other aspects of his wide-ranging oeuvre with substantive implications for organizational theory.

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In his seminal 1945 essay Hayek argued that the dispersed nature of much commercially relevant knowledge places strong constraints on the feasibility of centralized allocation and coordination mechanisms, but that there remains a problem of making efficient use of such knowledge (the first Hayekian knowledge problem). He realized that firms, because they make use of authority, are also challenged by dispersed knowledge, and his emphasis on delegation as a response to dispersed knowledge may lead to the prediction that (large) firms shouldn’t exist. Yet (large) firms obviously do exist (the second Hayekian knowledge problem). Recently, many management and organizational scholars have echoed Hayek’s argument that centralized coordination mechanisms, such as authority, may fail in the presence of dispersed knowledge. We examine these modern arguments and argue that they rest on shaky foundations: dispersed knowledge is a less strong constraint on authority than is often thought. We examine the wider implications of this for knowledge-based arguments in management and organizational theory, and call for more research into the micro-foundations of such arguments.

Macroeconomic theory assumes that factors of production in the economy are homogeneous and
fungible. As a result, it may be ill-suited for developing policy responses to the recent financial
crisis. Theories of strategic management and organization, with their emphasis on heterogeneously
distributed resources and capabilities, may be better positioned. Examples of where macroeconomic
theory may lead policies astray, and where theories of strategic management may
be more appropriate, are provided.

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How to motivate knowledge sharing is of crucial importance to many companies. This paper analyzes individual knowledge sharing behavior in a self-determination theory (SDT) perspective. The primary aim is to explore what type of motivation predicts knowledge sharing behavior and how this type of motivation is affected by reward structures and management styles in organizations. The paper builds on survey and interview data from a pilot case study and provides statistical evidence of a strong positive relationship between autonomous motivation and knowledge sharing behavior. Furthermore, tangible rewards are found to correlate negatively with autonomous motivation for knowledge sharing. The more employees perceive knowledge sharing to lead to tangible rewards, the less they are autonomously motivated to share. On the other hand, a management style supportive of employees’ needs for autonomy is found to promote autonomous motivation for knowledge sharing.

The IB literature informs us of several ways to measure firms’ degree of internationalization. In this paper we make the argument that in fact none of the existing indices really measure firms’ degree of "global specialization", that is, to what extent their allocation of resources is multidomestic or global. As argued, all the existing measures may gauge a purely multidomestic firm as having a high degree of internationalization, whereas a truly global firm may be ranked low. In order to remedy this we introduce a complementary index measuring how firms are configuring their value chains – whether they are replicating value chain activities from country to country or locating them in globally specialized units in order to exploit an international division of labor. In addition to mathematical modeling and numerical examples, we examine the relevance of the new index of global specialization on data of Danish MNCs by looking at the correlation between the new global specialization index and existing indices of firms’ degree of internationalization. We find that the index is able to identify a distinct group of firms with significantly higher degrees of global value chain configuration.
Key words: Internationalization, value chain, global configuration.
JEL Codes: F02, F23, L22, L23

In this book chapter we describe how Denmark’s eight universities have developed their supply of entrepreneurship education during the past three years. The governmental initiatives that aim to promote entrepreneurial universities, and the Danish context, are presented and related to this development. An assessment model of entrepreneurship education which includes the wide scope of dimensions important to education in the topic, such as content dimensions, stages in the entrepreneurial project and pedagogical dimensions is presented. By applying this model we have been able to analyse the strengths and weaknesses in the supply of entrepreneurship education at the eight universities.
The results show that the Danish universities have developed well regarding entrepreneurship education, especially on the pedagogical dimensions which means that more courses are becoming through and for entrepreneurship, rather than about entrepreneurship. The dominance of universities with business schools do, however, suggest that entrepreneurship education in Denmark is far from reaching maturity. Our results also suggest that it is important to focus on how to sustain the supply of entrepreneurship education rather than just invest in new course development.

As multinational corporations operate in multiple countries, headquarters must take into account differences in local settings when seeking the means to coordinate and control subsidiaries. The local system of industrial relations sets the framework for what kind of human resource management a multinational corporation can implement. Yet another question is whether the still stronger multinationals can change the existing systems of industrial relations, directly or indirectly. The paper analyzes four Danish enterprises over a ten-year period. This longitudinal study shows that none of the multinationals directly try to interfere in local industrial relations. However, by exercising their management prerogative in a way that differs from the Northern European tradition of industrial relations, they do influence the cooperation between employers and employees. In particular, the results show that a shift from a stakeholder to a shareholder management style and the increased degree of HQ control have an effect on the whole cooperative atmosphere in each of the companies. In the long run, they may affect the collective bargaining system as such.

This paper explores why and how HRM matters for knowledge transfer within multinational corporations. It is built upon the premise that there are certain HRM practices influencing extrinsic and intrinsic motivation of knowledge receivers. It is found that complementarity among HRM practices exists but does not always have a positive effect on knowledge transfer. Three hypotheses derived from these arguments are tested on data from 92 subsidiaries of Danish multinational corporations located in 11 countries.

In this exploratory study we look at human asset aspects of offshore outsourcing of services
that over time become more advanced and strategic potent to the outsourcing firms. As a
consequence, the outsourcing firms might want to internalize the operations. We focus on the
ways that outsourcing firms may transfer key personnel of local service providers to whollyowned
subsidiaries. We argue that a felt need for applying more powerful incentives on key
personnel of the service provider ‐ to harness and empower the sourcing operation ‐ may in
itself be a motive for, and key driver of, the internalization process.

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Human capital has often been discussed in transaction cost economics, particularly in connection with understanding the employment relation. This chapter reviews Williamson’s thinking on the issue, explains how it differs from Coase and Simon’s, and briefly discusses the relevant empirical literature. The chapter also covers property rights theory, and discusses various critiques of the treatment of human capital in transaction cost economics.

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We survey, organize, and discuss the literature on the role of organizational practices
for explaining innovation outcomes. We discuss how individual practices influence
innovation, and how the clustering of specific practices matters for innovation
outcomes. Relatedly, we discuss various possible mediators of the HRM/innovation
link, such as knowledge sharing, social capital and network effects. We argue that the
causal mechanisms underlying the HRM/innovation links are still ill-understood, calling
for further research.

I present an analysis of a survey in which the effect of entrepreneurship education and project-based education on students at lower secondary level is investigated. The results are based on a random sample of 2000 Danish students. The analysis indicates that entrepreneurship education has a positive effect on students’ personal development, and that its effect on entrepreneurial intentions is fully mediated by its effect on students’ self-conception. A finding with important policy implications is that there is a negative interaction effect between entrepreneurship education and project-based education regarding impact on students’ self-conception. The implication of the results is that we should replace project-based education with entrepreneurship education rather than having them run in parallel.

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This paper explores theoretical and empirical ambiguities in the literature concerning the impact of foreign subsidiary autonomy on intra-MNE knowledge transfer. We argue that understanding the interdependences between subsidiary autonomy and the use of different communication systems – e.g. person-based and electronic-based communication systems – is crucial to putting forward new insights in the debate. Based on the recent literature on strategic management, we hypothesize that the two communication systems call for different degrees of subsidiary autonomy and vice versa. Using a data set consisting of 307 dyads between foreign subsidiaries and their parent companies, we find that two distinctive configurations positively affect the extent of knowledge transfer from foreign subsidiaries to their parent companies. The first is the combination of a high degree of subsidiary autonomy and the use of person-based mechanisms, and the second is the combination of low subsidiary autonomy and the use of electronic-based mechanisms.

Nationality diversity and international experience constitute two related yet distinct
sources of competence among upper echelons. While both TMT international experience
and nationality diversity increases the likelihood of firms expanding outside their home
region, our results show that TMTs with international experience are more likely to
expand abroad via greenfield investments, whereas nationally diverse TMTs are more
likely to engage in international acquisitions and joint ventures. This highlights the need
to treat TMT nationality diversity and international experience as two different
characteristics influencing foreign entry mode decision.